The Feeling Mental Factor as a Companion to the Operation of Consciousness

The "feeling" in the aggregate of feeling (vedanā-skandha) is a mental concomitant (caitasika) of the consciousnesses of the six consciousnesses; it is a functionality of the minds of the six consciousnesses. In fact, it is the feeling that arises after consciousness contacts the sense objects—the initial receiving and apprehending of marks. It merely accepts the six sense objects and still belongs to a coarse mark; only when it develops into feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness does it become a subtle mark. The aggregate of feeling is not merely the initial feeling of consciousness contacting sense objects; the initial feeling is apprehending and accepting, before feelings of pain or pleasure have arisen. The aggregate of feeling includes the apprehending feeling and the later three kinds of feeling. Perception (saṃjñā), moreover, is not only discernment; it also has the function of grasping marks. The perception of the mind consciousness corresponds with designations (nāma). At the stage of perception there are also coarse and subtle marks—coarse discernment and subtle discernment and grasping of marks. Only after coarse and subtle discernment do the coarse and subtle feelings of the six consciousnesses arise.

The seeds of feeling stored in the tathāgatagarbha are not separate from the seeds of consciousness. When the seeds of consciousness operate, the mental concomitant of feeling operates along with them; therefore the conscious mind has the function of feeling. It is not the case that, apart from the seeds of consciousness, there is a separate seed of feeling. The five universal mental concomitants have no seeds; they can only operate by relying on the conscious mind, serving as its aids and companions. When the seeds of consciousness arise, the five universal mental concomitants simultaneously operate in accompaniment, depending upon the conscious mind. Therefore feeling has no separate seed, and perception likewise has no separate seed. It is only after the seeds of the six consciousnesses arise and the conscious mind begins to operate that the mental concomitants of feeling and perception operate in accompaniment. The five universal mental concomitants are all like this: each of the eight consciousnesses has its own five universal mental concomitants.

In the process of the conscious mind's discernment, the five universal mental concomitants operate over and over again; they do not end after operating just once. Once they begin to operate, their sequence is exchanged and reversed, and the order is not fixed. Therefore the feeling of the six consciousnesses does not end after operating once or twice; it may operate countless times. The mental concomitants of perception and volition (cetanā) are likewise. The mental concomitants of attention (manaskāra) and contact (sparśa) operate relatively fewer times. The six consciousnesses can continuously attend to the six sense objects and continuously contact the six sense objects without shifting, while the mental concomitants of feeling, perception, and volition must operate over and over, back and forth, before there can be a final, ultimate decision, and only then does the discernment of the six sense objects by the six consciousnesses come to an end. The operation of the mental concomitants is extremely subtle and fine; only at the stage of buddhahood can it be completely observed.